7.4 Creating an equitable and accessible environment

Often, we think of equal and equitable as interchangeable terms. However, equal—offering everyone the same opportunities—assumes that everyone has the same skills, abilities, and starting contexts with which to achieve success. While equitable is also focused on offering everyone the same opportunities, it includes explicit actions to eliminate bias and ensure that all students have the support they need to achieve success, regardless of individual or experiential differences.

A few tips around equity from Inclusive Teaching: https://inclusiveteaching.ctlt.ubc.ca/

• Gauge student needs. To gauge students’ varying access to technologies and their needs for support, you can conduct an anonymous survey by using a tool such as Canvas survey or Qualtrics. In addition, create multiple ways (e.g., email, phone, or virtual office hours) in which students can contact you with their needs. 
  
  
• Be sensitive and proactive about student needs. Be aware that some students may feel vulnerable or uncomfortable about disclosing their lack of access to technologies or to request individual accommodations. It is therefore best to assume that some of your students do not have access to digital devices and/or reliable internet and design your course with flexibility in how students access the course. 

Some other considerations, courtesy of San Diego State University Links to an external site.:

• Be identity-conscious. A critical feature of equity-minded teaching is the acknowledgement that our students are NOT all the same, that they come to us with sometimes vastly different experiences, and those experiences are often tied to their social identities (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, first-gen status, etc.). In the virtual environment, there are several ways that you can incorporate that acknowledgement into your course in meaningful ways: 
  
  • Address microaggressions in discussion boards, chats and other places where students interact.
  • Consider integrating culturally-relevant materials. 
  • Be aware of variation in students’ capacity to manage remote learning.
  • Be aware of how the current situation is impacting different communities.
    
    
• Be flexible and open. A key aspect of equitable and inclusive teaching is recognizing and working with the diversity of our students, along multiple dimensions. As you adapt your course for the online environment, try to stay open to new things; you may find that one silver lining to this situation is that you discover new ways of teaching that are both better for your students and more enjoyable for you!
  
  • Have flexible policies. Review your syllabus and consider what changes might be needed to your grading weights, late policies and other course policies in order to accommodate this transition.
  • Think about alternative ways that students can engage with your course (flexible activities).
  • Think about alternative ways that students can show you what they have learned (flexible assessments).

Designing for accessibility

In the context of online courses, accessibility means making it possible for all students, regardless of physical or developmental impairment, to use all course materials and tools. A course is accessible to the degree that every student can access, perceive, and navigate course content and assignments, submit assignments, and successfully use course tools. Accessible design is often included under the larger umbrella of “universal design for learning Links to an external site.”, because it considers all possible users. More information about designing your online course for accessibility is available in 5.6 Developing accessible content in Module 5.

If one of your student registers with the Centre for Accessibility on the Vancouver campus or the Disability Resource Centre of the Okanagan campus, you may be asked to provide accommodations to assist them with extending test times or alternative content formats. However, implementing accessibility features in your online course will benefit many students, not just those with documented disabilities.